Babysitting, washrooms, and obscurity
I’m not sure how I stumbled onto this (it may be through the DearReader.com Online Book Clubs that sends me 5 minutes of business reading each day - I think it supposed to encourage me to read more) but anyhow from Harvard Business Publishing I ran across the spot Measuring The Big Shift which in [...]
You do the math
When I first saw this spot, last year, from the Vancouver Public Library I was just happy to wallow in a bit of nostalgia and to see some old co-workers (I worked at VPL for many years). This time when I ran across it on Tame the Web and started down the road of “oh [...]
Where the extraordinary and fun happens
The Canadian version of Richard Florida’s Who’s Your City is now in print . Florida is known for exploring the relationship between people and place, and in this book the particular relationship between creative people and a small group of Canadian cities. Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers asks us to consider that leaders or successful individuals are [...]
Sewing, oil changes, and fish?
About a year ago I got a rather strange notion in my head that I wanted to learn how to sew. Not a totally comfortable fit, things like sewing and me. At a tender age I was asked to transfer out of domestic science and into business studies (with an instructor who taught us punch [...]
Time for a little R&D
Flipping through the Globe & Mail this weekend I ran across Gary Mason’s article “Scarcity of R&D driving top minds from Canada”.
Read the article, or the quotes I have here, and see how frighteningly well these concerns fit into a library context.
Mason was looking at the work of Dr. Gupta, a professor of [...]
It was a hive of activity
Just back from OLA Superconference which i enjoyed immensely - thanks to the fine folks at OLA for the invite!
There is so much incredible on-the-ground stuff going on out there such as the geodemographic research being done at Mississauga Public Library using the social marketing tool PRIZM, the ongoing energy for the Project for [...]
Is an open door a successful business?
According to the Wall Street Journal public libraries are seeing an increase in use due to a down turn in the economy. If this were to be leveraged into developing our libraries (facilities, staff, collections,) what would that look like – do we know what we are so that we know what we [...]
Shifting over on paper and in attitude
The creators of Fischbowl, a blog to support the staff development of Arapahoe High School, were a treat to run across for their presentations, such as Did You Know 3.0.
As well they post frank, inquiring discussions that have broader relevance than just the staff development at their own school. Their recent discussion on the [...]
Valued without the life time service pin?
“Congratulations, we are very pleased to offer you the position.” This is what a dear friend and new library school graduate is asking for in 2009. She’s anxious about getting her first job – but not necessarily anxious about keeping it.
She is a member of the urban creative class. She is willing to move [...]
Not getting it done: A different discussion about learning at the library
Staff development eh?
“Can’t work without it, and yet we have so much trouble working with it“ or..umm.. something like that.
The other day I found myself in a discussion about how to get staff trained. That’s right get staffed trained. It’s sort of like get the eaves done or get the cat fixed. Not [...]